Offseason Prospect Overview: Jared Young

Season Review

Drafted out of Old Dominion in the 15th round of the 2017 draft, it has been a long and circuitous path for Jared Young to reach prospect status. Originally hailing from British Columbia, Young originally attended Minot State as a freshman, transferred to Connors State JC as a sophomore, before finally landing in Conference USA where he achieved First Team honors and was named conference Newcomer of the Year after starring in his lone season for the Monarchs.

Like most prospects from cold weather climates his progress has been a little slower, but Young broke out in his first full professional season, eventually being named the organization's Player of the Year. It was quite an accomplishment, as Young was asked to transition to not one, but two new positions, while also missing some time early in the year due to injury. Miguel Amaya received more attention as he excelled in the first half as a teenager, but it was Young that proved to be the team's most consistent hitter, and then he continued to produce with Myrtle Beach after a midseason promotion.

One of a handful of power threats among Cubs full-season affiliates, Young entered 2018 as a sleeper but quickly established himself as South Bend's top bat in 1st half then continuing to produce after promotion to Myrtle Beach. 1/ pic.twitter.com/YoN784MmQv

Positives

He is pretty slick around the bag at 1B, and as a former middle infielder and displays plus range for the position. Has the athleticism to handle LF so it likely just a matter of experience to get him comfortable out there.

Young has a smooth left-handed swing. He can get pull happy at times and he wear out the grass between home plate and the second baseman. There is still some work to be done on staying patient and waiting for a pitch to drive as well.

Young has a smooth left-handed swing. He can get pull happy and can wear out the grass between home plate and the second baseman at times. There is still some work to be done on staying patient and waiting for a pitch to drive as well. 3/ pic.twitter.com/o88ecfoyDa

He is developing power to center and right field with flashes to the opposite field as well. His frame is pretty narrow, so he may be able to add some more strength, but I wouldn't expect much more bulk.

Began developing power to center and right field in 2018 with flashes to the opposite field as well. His frame is pretty narrow, so he may be able to add some more strength, but I wouldn't expect much more bulk. 4/ pic.twitter.com/hOGAHEDUeO

Negatives

His lack of arm strength prompted the move to first base and will likely limit him to left as an outfielder. If his arm does limit him to those two positions it obviously places a big burden on the bat. I want to see how he handles elite velocity before getting too excited as his role in the Majors will likely require plenty of appearances off bench against top relievers.

Summation

There is a chance Young works his way into a platoon role, although he did show the ability to hang in and produce against left-handed pitchers in a small sample last year, so I don't want to say that a bench or semi-regular role is his ceiling. But he'll have to max out his potential at the plate to achieve a starting job, so for the time being I believe apart-time first base and fourth outfielder gig, who can play other infield positions in a pinch is his most likely end result.

Want to see how he handles elite velo as he'll likely see plenty of PAs off bench against top relievers. Showed ability to hang in and produce against LHP in SSS, so don't want to say bench/semi-regular role is ceiling but he'll have to max out his potential to be a starter. 6/ pic.twitter.com/qLH3oznM9z

2019 Outlook

I expect Jared Young will open the 2019 season in AA Tennessee. What I am most curious about is how he will line up defensively. He showed he can play first last season, but has yet to be given much time in left. Since that versatility could be a big boost to his future prospects I would like to see him split time at the two positions. It is possible Young could see time in Iowa late in the year, but I think a full season with the Smokies would do him go, especially since he only played a partial year in High-A.

Comments

Considering the lack of outfielder talent at the upper levels, I would not be surprised if Young starts in LF at Tennessee. The Smokies can cover first with 1B/C/DH Tyler Alamo while Jhonny Pereda can also play first. Tennessee Could also carry a third catcher such as Erick Castillo to supplement.

Yeah, last year he swung at a few too many pitcher's pitches and ended up rolling over on them and making easy out to second baseman. That is the next step in his development that I would like to see outside of learning LF.

Swarmer and Young. Here are two guys who apparently stand an outside chance of becoming a BOR pitcher and a platoon/PH if he can handle better pitching. These are the Cubs minor league players of the year. See where I'm going with this. There is very little talent down there guys. Very little indeed. The current front office owns this.

The Cubs don't have elite prospects right now but they have a number of young guys who could develop into elite talent in a year or two. Swarmer and Young are not even on their top 30 prospect list now. They are not the best of the Cubs minors. The farm system is in much better shape than you are implying.

I disagree. I saw both Young and Swarmer play trust me they are for real. They both have incredible talent. I would rather have a player like Young that has good power, makes solid contact and looks comfortable at the plate then have a player that hits 30 homers and strikes out all the time. As far as Swarmer goes he has been finally starting to fill out and has plenty more room to fill. I would rather have a pitcher that throws low to mid 90's like Swarmer than a pitcher that throws high 90's and has no control. I was at the game when Kris Bryant was rehabbing in Tennessee. The stadium was packed and Swarmer pitched a gem he was sitting 92-93 and hitting 94 often. He wasn't even phased by the sellout crowd and Kris playing 3rd base. Now that was impressive. I like to see players that are not top prospects out perform big time prospects. Keep an eye on these two guys. Never count out the underdogs. Good luck guys.

They weren’t the players of the year because of where they fall in big league projections, it was for their production against other minor leaguers. Guys can come out of nowhere & have a good season. And if they do make the bigs, isn’t that a testament to their scouting & drafting skills?

As far as the current front office owning it, sure they do. They promoted players from it & traded from it. That’s why they are now ranked near the bottom farm system. You can argue that some of those trades weren’t the best. You can not argue that one didn’t help bring a World Series. It’s where the arrow is pointed now. Before last draft I would agree it was looking pretty bad.

But I think they take a decent jump once Alzolay shows he’s back healthy & Roederer & Davis show why they were taken as high schoolers w/those early rounds picks. I also believe Hoerner is closer to a top 50 than just under the top 100 player. This season will be more telling of how their last 3-4 drafts really are.